There are some days I feel a bit overwhelmed as I look at my calendar first thing in the morning.  Back to back meetings all day long, with barely a break for lunch generate revenue for Roundpeg, but are they really the best use of my time?

In  a recent blog post Patty Azzarello writing for Liz Strauss argues that the way to really win is to be “less busy”  As a leader you need to find time to step back, look at the big picture and plan.  She advocates:

Refuse to burn all your time up on things that are not so important. Trust that giving yourself time to think will help you find ways to deliver higher value business outcomes, and get the right work done in less time.

In the last few months I have tried to follow Patty’s advice and bring more planning time into my days.  It is not easy, because someone always wants you to do something, but I am making progress.  I have learned to block out time, scheduling appointments with myself to do just that.  I miss some of the networking events I have given up, because the busy routine was familiar.  But taking the time to plan, forcing my team to take some of that time as well is starting to pay off.  We each have a clearer picture of  what we need to do to grow the business, our processes are more organized, and we are more productive.

Do you take time to plan?  If you want to grow your business, you need to!